Hello,
Today was very busy with pre-op appointments, some shopping and getting stuff ready around here for me to be lazy(er) for a few days. I managed to get an hour at the Y this evening too.
One of the appointments was with my surgeon, Dr. Barrio, who gave me some more information about the pathology report from the biopsy. I'm glad I didn't know there was more info coming from that! It was all positive information about the type of tumor.
Because of recent research (published in JAMA ... scroll down that page, click on an abstract and geek out on the numbers!), they are changing their policy about taking lymph nodes and I get to be among the first recipients of this less invasive procedure, since the new policy doesn't officially go into effect for two weeks. Basically, it just means recovery time from the surgery will be less and the "morbidity" that results very minor. (This new policy is already being used at Sloan Kettering and the Mayo Clinic.)
My tumor is going to be tested more than high school students. It gets to go to California to undergo the Oncotype DX gene expression profile. This test predicts the likelihood of chemotherapy being a good option for my particular disease. Dr. Barrio was confident enough that I will not need chemotherapy to actually *say* that, but this should be done anyway, to be sure. At any rate, radiation will start almost right away. There are two options for that, but I won't go into it all here. Hit me up for more info if you really want to know.
Tomorrow I will have my arm measured for a clinical study about lymphedima that I will participate in, and get the last two pre-op items checked off the list, finish the shopping and pack. Surgery is scheduled for 10am Wednesday and expected to last 90 minutes. I will be released Thursday morning after breakfast and a conversation with the occupational therapist. Recovery time is "1-2 weeks," but we'll see about that.
Thanks again for all of the phone calls, text messages, great vibes, hugs & just hanging out with me. This nightmare would have been so much worse without you to talk to.
Love,
Diane
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